The CFP Board, American College, and "Grandfathering"

Well, Morris, you (and/or I), seem to have stirred up at least a micro-hornet’s nest with the grandfathering issue on certification. I think your responses largely speak for themselves, but I am a bit puzzled about why you seem taken aback by my working definition of “grandfathering.” Unless you’re claiming to have invented the phrase (which would rank right up there with Al Gore’s invention of the Internet), you’re not really free to define the term any way you wish. For a more authoritative source, I consulted Black’s Law Dictionary, which defines a “grandfather clause” as: “a provision in a law or regulation exempting those already in or a part of the existing system which is being regulated.”

Now, I understand your desire to limit the scope of “grandfathering” to only the CFP Board’s exempting existing CFPs from the comprehensive exam (over 15 years ago, btw), so that action appears more sinister ( believe me, the Board doesn’t need any help with that). But the fact is that grandfathering is a broad and widely accepted practice frequently used by lawmakers, regulators, and professions, alike, including numerous instances by the American College. The bottom line with professional credentials is that we–the public–trusts existing professionals to establish education, knowledge and ethical criteria to ensure the public continues to benefit from professional services in question.